Metal Edge, Inc. 2007 DAT. 



SB 483 
P96 A7 
1911 
Copy 1 



RECOMMENDATIONS 



OF THK 







Metropolitan Park Commission 



Contained in Report to the General Assembly 
for 1911. 



Note. — The full report is now in course of publication. These proof sheets of the more 
essential portions are presented in advance of the finished work in order that three important 
resolutions now before the General Assembly may be understood in time for proper action. 
These resolutions have been recommended by the unanimous vote at the annual meeting of the 
Commission, February 9, 1911. 






MEMBERS OF THE COMMISSION. 

JANUARY, I9J1. 



Ex-OfBcio Members. 

HENRY FLETCHER, 

Mayor of Providence. 

GILES W. EASTERBROOKS, 

Mayor of Pawtucket. 

F. X. L. RATTEY, 

Mayor of Central Fall*. 

GEORGE M. HILL, 

President of the Town Council of East Providence. 

ADELBERT E. PLACE, 

President of the Town Council of Warwick. 

JONATHAN V. BARNES, 

President of the Town Council of Johnston. 

EDGAR B. HURDIS, 

President of the Town Council of North Providence. 

WILLIAM H. ERSKINE, 

President of the Town Council of Lincoln. 

ARTHUR L. SMITH, 

President of the Town Council of Barrington. 

PETER GASKIN, 

President of the Town Council of Cumberland. 

W. H. P. FAUNCE, 
President of Brown University. 

E. TUDOR GROSS, 
President of the Board of Trade of Providence. 

HUGER ELLIOTT, 
Director of the R. I. School of Design. 

D. of D. 
UL7 r 1916 



METROPOLITAN PARK COMMISSIONERS. 

H. ANTHONY DYER, 

President of the Providence Art Club. 

HOWARD HOPPIN, 
President of the R. I. Chapter, American Institute of Architects. 



Members Appointed by the Governor of Rhode Island. 

FENNER H. PECKHAM, M. D., to serve until February 1, 1914. 
HENRY A. BARKER, to serve until February 1, 1913. 
JESSE H. METCALF, to serve until February 1, 1912. 
EDWARD F. ELY, to serve until February 1, 1911. 
HENRY F. LIPPITT, to serve until February 1, 1910. 



President. — Fenner H. Peckham, M. D; Secretary. — Henry A. Barker, 32 
Custom House Street, Providence; Assistant Secretary. — Edward F. Ely. 

Executive Committee. — Fenner H. Peckham, Chairman; Henry A. Barker, 
Secretary; Jesse H. Metcalf, George F. Hull, E. Tudor Gross, Edward F. 
Ely {ex-offkio) . 

Advisory Committee on Finance. — Fenner H. Peckham, (ex-officio), Henry 
Fletcher, Henry F. Lippitt. 

Consulting Landscape Architects and Professioiud Advisers. - — Olmsted 
Brothers. 

Engineer. — Charlton D. Putnam. 

Ofp, r e of the Commission. — 32 Custom House Street, Providence. 

(In January, 1911, His Excellency, the Governor re-appointed Mr. Edward 
F. Ely to serve as a Commissioner until February 1, 191G. 



SYNOPSIS OF THE REPORTS 

PRESENTED BY THE 

Metropolitan Park Commission 

JANUARY, 1911. 



THREE ESPECIAL RECOMMENDATIONS. 

Three especial recommendations, which are made as very earnest 
requests, appear in the present report of the Metropolitan Park 

Commissioners: 

First. An immediate appropriation of .$45,000 to finish the projects 
that are now nearing completion or for which especially pressing obliga- 
tion exists. These are now held up because the Commission have 
no more money. The items of cost that make up this total are all 
small ones except that for the Barrington Parkway. To finish this 
will require $26,906.36. 

Second. That the question of a bond issue of $250,000 be submitted 
to the voters of the State at the election in November, in order that the 
next General Assembly may have authority to provide funds for the 
remaining projects of the Commission's "Essential List," that have not 
yet been undertaken. 

As a result of the comprehensive study of the whole Metropolitan 
Park question, which the Commission was originally bidden to under- 
take, the various projects that were considered necessary to a com- 
plete system were divided into three classes of urgency. 

The "Essential" list as then explained, comprised those projects 
that demanded speedy attention, either because public need for them 
already existed, or because their obvious need in the near future 



REPORT OF METROPOLITAN PARK COMMISSION. 5 

could never be met unless action were taken very soon. The cost 
was estimated at that time at a little over $450,000, exclusive of 
improvements. $250,000 was asked for and granted in 1907 to begin 
the work of acquiring them, with the understanding that an equal 
additional sum would be requested as soon as the first lot were well 
under way. Having apportioned the funds and begun the work of 
land purchases, the General Assembly of 1909, and that of 1910, were 
in turn asked to enact necessary legislation looking to the second 
bond issue, but the opinion was expressed that the Commission should 
fully expend all the money on hand before more should be voted. 
In consequence, and as was fully prophesied in the preceding reports, 
the beginning of the year 1911 finds the Commission practically 
without funds to continue their work, and with a number of the 
"Essential Projects" which they consider as important as those 
undertaken, not yet attempted. If steps for a second bond issue 
may now be taken, all possible work of securing options and getting 
ready for undertaking these works will be immediately begun. Fur- 
ther delay, instead of being economical, will seriously interrupt the 
well organized labors of the Commission, and cause financial loss. 
Far more serious than any possible money loss, however, will be the 
blotting out of some of these projects from all possibility of future 
accomplishment. In several such cases, this would be a very con- 
siderable public calamity. 

Third. The Commission ask that the so-called Annual Appropria- 
tion be made $10,000. 

This money pays for all the general expense of maintenance and 
administration that a bond issue does not provide for. Last year's 
appropriation of $7,500 is quite insufficient for these purposes and 
especially so because the rapidly increasing use of the reservations 
has added materially to the expense of their operation. 

The Commission believe that the work they have been delegated to 

carry on fully ranks in importance with public 

Of Vast schools, good roads and decent sanitation, but 

Importance. it differs from these other enterprises in the 

urgency of its demand for immediate attention, 



6 REPORT OF METROPOLITAN PARK COMMISSION. 

because favorable opportunities now existing are about to disappear 
forever. 

Being thus charged with a public obligation to carry out the 
evident will of the people of the State as 
A Public expressed by a conclusive vote, and by the 

Obligation. action of several succeeding legislatures, the 

Commission feel fully justified in asking reason- 
able financial assistance. 

Their work is not a costly one measured in terms of the benefit that 
it confers upon all classes of the people; neither 
Not a is it costly as compared with other important 

Costly Work. works in this and other States. They find that 
all but one or two of the districts throughout 
the country that can be compared to this one, either in population or 
wealth, have been much more liberal in expenditures for public 
reservations and parks. They note that this Metropolitan Park 
system ministers directly to at least three-quarters of all the people 
of the State, and that it is vital to the welfare of a very large propor- 
tion of them. The necessary results can not be secured through any 
possible action of any individual city or town. 

The cost of maintaining a bond issue of -1250,000, including the 

necessary sinking fund which will pay it off 

2 1-2 Cents in due time, amounts to about $25 per year 

Apiece. for each 1,000 of the population concerned, 

though the history of similar enterprises in 

other places fully testifies that the gain in valuation — not to mention 

the dividends of extra prosperity, efficiency, health, and happiness — 

will speedily make such an undertaking more than self supporting. 

The reservations thus far secured possess remarkable variety that 

could not have been equalled by any possible 

What We Have expenditure in almost any other part of the 

So Far. country, while their geographical distribution 

over the large metropolitan area could not 

possibly have been more fair with so small an appropriation. 



REPORT OF METROPOLITAN PARK COMMISSION. 7 

Still, with only half of its "Essential Projects" yet attempted, it is 
evident that another appropriation, as has been declared from the 
beginning, is necessary to properly cover the district. That this will 
very fairly equalize the benefits is fully shown by reference to the 
list of proposed projects and a study of the map. 

It will preserve for all time public assets that are of vital import- 
ance to the well being of the State ; it will give 
To Secure assurance that is necessary to secure many 

Donations. valuable donations of property that is now 

being platted or in process of transformation, 
and that will otherwise be lost. 

From their own investigations and the wide experience of their 
expert advisers, the Commission are fully con- 
A Striking vinced that no other equally populous coin- 

Comparison, nity in America has secured for an equally 
small expenditure, results of such extensive, 
varied, and far-reaching importance. As a striking contrast, they 
cite the Hudson County Park System of New Jersey, which provides 
for a district comparable in population and wealth, with our own. 
In our case, however, the necessary real estate thus far secured has 
been obtained at an average cost of about $1S5 per acre, but the 
New Jersey project was postponed or neglected until most of the 
natural opportunities were gone. On this account, it is costing from 
$3,500 to $4,500 per acre, and the land is now in condition that 
requires great expenditure to make it again usable for recreation by 
the people. 

The report describes in very full detail the various reservations 

secured, showing what work has been done 

Detailed upon them and what remains at this time to do. 

Information. All are entirely usable at present except the 

Barrington Parkway and the Ten Mile River 

Reservation. The latter can be made very valuable to the public 

by a slight expenditure, but the former calls for completion of the 



8 REPORT OF METROPOLITAN PARK COMMISSION. 

work specified, and already well advanced, before its especially 
important purpose as a continuous highway may be attained. 

The results to date (January 1, 1911) show ten separate proper- 
ties, of which four were wholly donated. There 
Some are nearly 727 acres of land and 56^ acres of 

Figures. water area. The expenditures have been 

$232,972.33, of which $145,464.28 were for 
real estate purchases and the balance for improvements and expenses 
incident to their acquirement. Several small tracts of land along the 
Barrington Parkway and one at Lincoln Woods, not yet paid for, 
will require most of the unexpended balance. The reservations 
bought include 695J acres of land and 44| acres of water, and the 
average distance of these reservations from the State House is 3^ 
miles. The reservations donated include 30f acres of land and 12 
acres of water. There are two public bathing beaches; and two 
strips of parkway, not yet completed, amounting to 2 9-10 miles in 
length. Four miles of roads have been built and 7-| miles of paths 
and trails constructed. The frontage on lakes, rivers, and bay, 
amounts to about 7 miles. 

The financial statements are very comprehensive and show in detail 
the cost of all lands and improvements to date. The system of 
accounts and "cost-keeping" has been devised by the best experts 
known to the Commission, and has already been extensively copied 
by other park boards throughout the country. 

Though the make-up of the Commission is somewhat altered, it 

reiterates the recommendations of previous 
Previous Reports „, . . . . ,, , 

r reports. Especial attention is called to the 

statements in the report of 1910 regarding the 
"Essential Projects" now unprovided for. The report of the sec- 
retary remarks that the saying that "Many a man has lost a dollar 
trying to save a nickel," might properly apply to a State, which for 
some attempted purpose of economy, should delay securing its 
necessary public assets until the chance of saving them is gone forever. 



SEVENTH ANNUAL REPORT 



OF THE 



METROPOLITAN PARK COMMISSION. 



To the Honorable the General Assembly: 

In submitting their annual report for the year ending December 
31, 1910, the Metropolitan Park Commissioners have attempted to 
supply to the members of the General Assembly a record of the work 
performed during the year, covering both the extension and the 
development of the various properties acquired, and also a financial 
statement, showing as clearly as possible the expenditures of the 
twelve months just ended, together with an exhibit of all previous 
expenditures, so that the cost of each reservation, somewhat exten- 
sively itemized, may be seen at a glance. 

We believe that any careful consideration of the results thus far 
accomplished toward the acquirement and de- 

The Commission's velopment of an adequate Metropolitan System 
Duty. of Parks and Boulevards, will fully demon- 

strate that the work has been satisfactorily 
carried on in accordance with the desires of the people of the State. 
These desires, we think, have been fully expressed in the several acts 
of the General Assembly for creating and maintaining the Metropoli- 
tan Park District; in the emphatic endorsement of the preliminary 
bond issue by the electors at the general election in November, 1906, 
and in the almost unanimous approval of leading citizens and public 
organizations. 

It seems unnecessary to again call attention to the rapid and 
generous development of park and public reservation systems now 
going on in most American cities, or to the rather halting position 



10 REPORT OF METROPOLITAN PARK COMMISSION. 

of our own community in this enormously important affair. Suffice 
it to say that in economic value and vital human necessity this 
movement is now conceded to rank in importance with the older 
movements for schools, good roads, and decent sanitation, in its re- 
lation to the well being of the modern State. Our own Metropolitan 
project has been recognized and endorsed by all the General Assem- 
blies since 1905, in their successive acts for its furtherance; and it 
has been the constant and earnest endeavor of the Commission to 
carry out the purpose of the people and of the General Assembly, 
for the creation of such a park system as the public welfare requires 
and demands. 

A bond issue of $250,000 was proposed by the General Assembly of 
1906, for the beginning of work upon the project that had been pre- 
viously outlined. This was heartily endorsed by the people of the 
State the following November, and, after other enabling acts by the 
General Assembly of 1907, became available the following May. 
This money has been made to cover all the work thus far accom- 
plished, but because the Commission foresaw that a serious and costly 
interruption would occur in the building-up of the park system, unless 
further appropriations were made in time to avoid it, they recom- 
mended to the General Assembly in 1909 and again in 1910, that 
the question of a second bond issue be submitted to the people. 

These assemblies did not see fit to act favorably upon the recom- 
mendation of the Commission, for the expressed reason that the 
money in hand should be fully spent before further appropriations 
were considered, and in order that the public might have some 
opportunity to perceive some of the results and value of the works 
proposed. 

The funds are now practically exhausted, and we point with entire 
satisfaction to nearly 800 acres of valuable and 

First Appropriation varied reservations, most of which are already 

Now Exhausted. sufficiently improved to be available for the 

comfort and enjoyment of tens of thousands. 

Unlike the others, however, the Barrington Parkway cannot serve 



REPORT OF METROPOLITAN PARK COMMISSION. 11 

its more important purposes until it is practically completed accord- 
ing to its specifications. The Commission contracted in August, 
1910, for the building of this much needed and popular parkway, 
and now having already accomplished nearly or quite 75 per cent. 
of the work, are obliged to forego the completion of this project until 
the General Assembly provides the funds. 

Lack of money also halts the necessary improvement of the other 
reservations and the contemplated extensions of the system that are 
essential for a more equitable distribution of benefits throughout the 
Metropolitan District. The Commission earnestly believes that this 
condition should be remedied by prompt and thoughtful action. 

It seems to your Commission most unreasonable that a matter of 
such supreme importance should be allowed to falter and halt for 
lack of financial support. Unless the earlier assemblies seriously 
erred in laying the foundations for the system, or the Commission has 
previously failed in its stewardship, we are fully justified in asking 
for the necessary co-operation and the means for the continuance of 
our work. Nor can we doubt that such support will be forthcoming. 

Accordingly, we very earnestly recommend and request the imme- 
diate provision of $45,000 for the carrying on 

Immediate Funds of the work now on hand, and which is specified 

Required. later. We also request that the necessary steps 

be taken at this session, in order that a second 

bond issue of $250,000 may be provided next year, if the electors 

express their approval at the November election. 

As is exhibited in full detail, farther on, the total expenditures of 
the Metropolitan Park Commission during the 

Expended During year 1910 were $108,040.63, of which $100,- 
1910. 985.64 were of receipts remaining from the 

bond issue of $250,000 provided by the General 
Assembly four years ago, and the remainder from the annual ap- 
propriation provided for general expenses, and from small receipts 
from two of the reservations. Including the payments during the 
previous years, the total expenditures under the bond issue have 
been $232,972.33, leaving a balance, January 1, 1911, of $17,027.67. 



12 report of metropolitan park commission. 

Reservations Already Secured. 

The acreage that has been secured can probably never again be 
duplicated in character and desirability for park purposes by any 
similar investment. The reservations now possessed are as follows: 



REPORT OF METROPOLITAN PARK COMMISSION. 



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REPORT OF METROPOLITAN PARK COMMISSION. 15 

It is difficult to imagine how so limited an appropriation for work 

in so large a district could have secured a more 

Useful Results varied assortment of recreation places or pro- 

Thus Far. vided a more satisfactory distribution over the 

area to be served, for it must be remembered 

that the Metropolitan District of Providence Plantations is one of 

the largest urban areas in the United States. If considered as one 

community, which it really is, it would be found among the dozen 

most populous. No other community of equal size, however, has 

made so slight a provision for its park needs. When the Metropolitan 

district plan was devised to provide for the common requirements of 

these related towns and cities in a way that none of them separately 

could accomplish, it was anticipated that much more money would 

be provided and more of the essential parts of the park project would 

be set under way, so that the distribution of benefits would be more 

uniform. The year 1911 finds us with some of our most needed 

enterprises unbegun for lack of funds. 

As was prophesied in the previous reports the Commission now 
finds its work at a standstill until more funds 
Unfinished Work are secured. If means may be provided to 
Is Halted. resume the work upon the Barrington Parkway 

under the terms of the present contract by 
which it will be completed during the spring of 1911, a very satis- 
factory saving of cost will be ensured; and the public will speedily 
begin to derive full benefit from its use. The Commission believes, 
also, that they should undertake without delay some of the minor 
works mentioned in connection with other reservations, and estimate 
the amount necessary for immediate use at $45,000, to be appor- 
tioned about as follows: 



16 report of metropolitan park commission. 

Estimate of Amount Required for Work of "Acquirement and 
Permanent Improvement in 1911. 

In Addition to Annual Appropriation for General Expenses. 

Probable cost of land already condemned $17,000 00 

Probable cost of certain lots at Woonasquatucket Reservation nec- 
essary to condemn • • . 500 00 

Estimated cost of driveway at Merino Flats in accordance with terms 

of purchase 1,600 00 

Estimated cost of entrance to new parkway at Meshanticut as per 

understanding with donor. 1,500 00 

Estimated cost of necessary portion of building at Edgewood Beach 

for shelter; for letting of bathing suits, and sale of refreshments . 7,000 00 
Estimated cost of cutting path and building small dam at Ten Mile 

River Reservation to make the park usable 1,000 00 

Estimated cost of necessary fire lanes and removal of inflammable 

material, Lincoln Woods — finishing connecting link across dam . 3,000 00 
Estimated cost of incidentals, supervision, engineering, landscape 

advisors 4,000 00 

Estimated cost of finishing Barrington Parkway 26,906 36 

$62,506 36 
Cash on hand 17,027 67 

$45,478 69 

For all the above expenditures there is either a very definite and 
evident obligation, or the public need is such as to demand con- 
tinuation of the work without unnecessary delay. The estimate has 
been carefully made, and it allows no margin upon any of the items 
for contingencies, or for any improvement of lands that may be 
donated. 

An annual appropriation for the general administration expenses 
is necessary because the bond issue provides 
Annual only for expenditures made in connection with 

Appropriation. the purchase and development of the reserva- 
tions; i. e., permanent expenditures. In the 



REPORT OF METROPOLITAN PARK COMMISSION. 17 

earliest days of the Commission the expenses for so-called "prelimi- 
nary investigation" of projects suggested, were necessarily large, but 
the results of the painstaking study of the great subject in hand are 
already manifest, and may be compared with satisfaction and pride 
to any similar ones obtained for a like expenditure, in any other 
community of which the Commission has knowledge. Your Com- 
mission has also secured much additional data by which the wisdom 
of any proposed new work may be now intelligently considered. 
The small item of $917.21 represents the cost of such investigation 
during the year just closed. But while such expense has been 
diminishing, the cost of administration and maintenance made 
necessary by the opening and by the unexpectedly large use of the 
reservations, has been increasing, and must continue to do so in 
proportion as these parklands demonstrate their usefulness in min- 
istering to the public welfare and happiness. The appropriation of 
$7,500 granted last year is entirely inadequate for these purposes. 
The Commission, therefore, respectfully request that the amount of 
this "Special Appropriation" be made at least $10,000 for the en- 
suing year, and respectfully submit that they could use a larger sum 
in ways they consider of much advantage to the people. 

Why Another Bond Issue is Necessary. 

Neither the officers of the Commission nor their expert advisers have 
discovered any cause for modifying their opinions as to the im- 
portance of the projects hitherto proposed as essential additions to 
the list of parks already acquired, and it is for these that another 
bond issue in 1912 is earnestly desired. 

Your Commissioners believe that the proposed reservations in the 

north end of Providence, and in the Fruit Hill 

Very Essential section of Providence and North Providence, 

Projects. are fully justified by public need and by 

economic considerations, and they realize that 

the latter project is especially pressing at this particular time. They 

note with deep regret and much apprehension the fast increasing 



18 REPORT OF METROPOLITAN PARK COMMISSION. 

difficulties of extending a proper drive down along the west shore 
below Pawtuxet and fear that the last remaining chance for an 
adequate waterside park on this side of Narragansett Bay will soon 
be taken away. They see in the Pawtuxet River and in the Ten 
Mile River great natural assets that are carelessly regarded, though 
enthusiastically enjoyed so long as they are available to the people, 
but destined unless public action is taken, to be included very soon in 
the catalogue of lost opportunities. Mashapaug and Spectacle Ponds 
and the Pocasset River may still be saved, though they threaten 
soon to become places of nuisance rather than of delight to their 
neighbors. No serious injury has been wrought to Neutaconkanut 
Hill, but the eastern edge of the Upper Seekonk basin must soon be 
provided for, if we would preserve the remaining vestiges of its 
former attractiveness and have it escape the odious condition of the 
waterfront south of Red Bridge. This is enormously important to 
the development of great areas in Pawtuckct and East Providence 
and of scarcely less value to Providence as well. 

It is very certain that most of these appeal for immediate action. 

The potent arguments for the proposed Met- 

Need Our Immediate ropolitan reservations at all these places have 

Attention. been fully set forth in preceding reports, and 

must be too obvious to any thoughtful citizen 
who considers the inevitable or already existing conditions, to 
require restatement. 

We are dealing with the salvation and continued enjoyment of 
great resources that have been provided by nature for a particularly 
favored district. Their utter annihilation cannot be regarded with 
indifference or tolerance in this age when the conservation of natural 
resources is coming to be recognized as among the first laws of 
citizenship. 

It will be recalled that soon after the first recommendations for a 

comprehensive reservation plan were submitted 

" Essential List " to the General Assembly in obedience to the 

Half Done. legislative report on such a project, the total 

presentation of all the various enterprises that 



REPORT OF METROPOLITAN PARK COMMISSION. 19 

had been suggested or considered was divided into three parts, 
representing relative degrees of desirability or urgency. The first 
class enumerated comprised what was called the "Essential List/' 
the cost of which, after due and careful consideration, was estimated 
at about $500,000. For beginning work, an appropriation of $250,000, 
as requested by the Commission, was voted by the General Assembly 
in 1907, after its approval by the .voters at the preceding general 
election. With this money the land for five of the reservations 
named in the "Essential List" has been bought and improved as 
elsewhere described. The other proposed reservations in the same 
list are no less important and the Commission deeply regret that they 
are still unprovided for. They are convinced that no purpose of 
economy can be secured by delay and that the delay already suffered 
has resulted in increased cost or decreased advantage. Yet they 
believe that by an expenditure of $250,000, for which a bond issue 
was first requested two years ago and the request for which is now 
repeated, very valuable results may be obtained. Moreover, it will 
accomplish a very essential object in making the distribution of the 
Metropolitan Parks and other public reservations so much more 
uniform and equitable throughout the district, that all of the citizens 
thereof may share fully in the advantages afforded, and enjoy an 
equality of benefit. 

Although this bond issue would not by any means do all the work 
that might at this time be wisely undertaken, it would, at any rate, 
satisfy the most obvious and insistent need and at the same time 
protect certain features that require development for park purposes, 
from waste, spoliation, and growingly exhorbitant cost. The Com- 
mission are convinced that a great need exists for the rapid prosecu- 
tion of their work and that great waste and ultimate disaster would 
result from unnecessary delay. Great opportunities have already 
been wasted. Existing opportunities will speedily disappear. The 
work of reclamation and attempted restoration will be beset by more 
and more discouragements. 



20 REPORT OF METROPOLITAN PARK COMMISSION. 

We cannot doubt that a work which is vital to the prosperity and 

well being of three-quarters of the people of 

Vital to Whole Rhode Island, is a very appropriate concern of 

State. the State as a whole. Every part of the State 

is ultimately related to every other part, and 

the mutual obligation is demonstrated by the hearty support on the 

part of the cities for the new State roads and the rural schools in 

outlaying towns. The same mutual obligation must be recognized 

in this not less important enterprise, affecting the citizenship and 

prosperity of the more populous communities. 

A very vital responsibility rests jointly upon this Commission and 

upon the State, by which they have been 

A Joint appointed to their task. A wise constructive 

Responsibility. policy, consistently and diligently followed 

through many years to come, must preserve to 

our children and* to the children of all future generations, their 

rightful heritage of health and comfortable living. If we of the 

present age are not to be regarded by our followers with well deserved 

contempt and scorn, we must recognize the solemn obligation to 

provide not only for immediate needs, but to so conserve and develop 

our splendid Metropolitan district that it may adequately minister 

to the future requirements of a prosperous and happy people, that 

all future ages may share the benefits with the present one. 

And having accepted their share of this work with enthusiasm and 

devotion, guided by the best expert advice that the country can 

furnish to an enterprise of this kind, and themselves desiring no other 

reward than that which comes from public service, well performed, 

your Commission confidently request the assistance of the people 

and of the representatives of the people in the General Assembly. 

They would, therefore, summarize their present requests as 

follows: First, that the sum of .$45,000, 

Financial necessary for finishing projects now under way 

Recommendations, or for which some pressing obligation exists, 

be made available without delay. Second, that 



REPORT OF METROPOLITAN PARK COMMISSION. 2l 

permissive legislation be enacted by which the electors of the State 
may vote at the next general election upon a second bond issue of 
$250,000 for the most needed projects of their "Essential List." 

Third, that a necessary appropriation of $10,000 be granted for 
the maintenance and operation of existing reservations and for those 
general expenses that a bond issue does not cover. 

All of which is respectfully submitted. For the Metropolitan Park 
Commission, 

FENNER H. PECKHAM, President. 
HENRY A. BARKER, Secretary. 

At the annual meeting of the Metropolitan Park Commission held 
February 9, 1911, all the foregoing requests and recommendations 
were after full consideration, severally adopted by unanimous vote, 
and the Executive Committee were directed to present them, on 
behalf of the Commission, to the General Assembly, in their annual 
report for the year 1910. 



22 report of metropolitan park commission. 

Essential Projects Now Unprovided For, Which Another 
Bond Issue Will Secure. 

The preceding report of the Commission, presented to the General 
Assembly in 1910, furnished brief description of the several projects 
which it was proposed to undertake with funds desired from a second 
bond issue. It is unnecessary, therefore, at this time, to repeat the 
especial reasons for placing each one of them among the enterprises 
that are considered essential. Suffice it to say that the present 
Commission of 1911, like its predecessors, has, by unanimous vote at 
its annual meeting, renewed its earnest recommendation for the 
needed appropriation of $250,000. 

Since the purpose of this appropriation has not altered, though its 
necessity grows more urgent day by day, the following statements 
may properly be reiterated: 

"These reservations are all essential parts of the future park sys- 
tem, and if properly utilized will, for all time, remain among the 
most valuable of the natural resources of the Metropolitan Park 
District. 

"Probably no other great community in America contains natural 
assets that may be preserved and developed so economically, and 
made to contribute so much to the character and general welfare, 
recreation, and public health, at so little expense. 

" On the other hand, most of these places present the serious menace 
of future slums and sanitary problems. Every month sees their 
intelligent acquirement beset by new obstacles and increased cost, 
and brings them nearer to degradation and defilement. Only by 
timely action can we escape very burdensome conditions and an 
economic loss that makes the present expense of utilizing them for 
better purposes very trivial by comparison. 

" For financial reasons alone, this community cannot afford not to 
make certain public reservations in locations like these, and the pro- 
jects on this list are believed by our expert professional advisers to 
be the ones that require the most speedy attention. 



REPORT OF METROPOLITAN PARK COMMISSION. 23 

"The appropriation called for will accomplish the more essential 
parts of the various undertakings mentioned, where the most con- 
spicuous results maybe obtained for the least expenditure, and where 
the penalty of delay threatens to be most severe." 

The list is as follows: 

Narragansett Parkway, on west shore, and a proposed "Rock 
Island Park," south of Pawtuxet on Narragansett Bay. 

A park in the Wanskuck district, in the north end of Providence. 

Fruit Hill Parkway and connections by Violet Hill to Merino 
avenue, and to the Fruit Hill section. 

Pawtuxet River, "Section A." 

Mashapaug and Spectacle Ponds, "Section A." 

Seekonk River, east shore of Upper Basin, between Ingrahamville 
Point, Pawtucket, and Red Bridge. 

Pocasset River, "Section A." 

Neutaconkanut Hill, a portion. 

Valley Falls Pond, " Section A," at northern edge of Central Falls. 

The proposed Narragansett Parkway, which would give to the 
west shore somewhat similar benefits to those provided by the Bar- 
rington Parkway upon the east shore, is described on page 76 of last 
year's report. The other proposed reservations are discussed upon 
pages 101 to 107, inclusive, and upon pages 126 and 127. 

Donations Promised. 

The officers of the Commission have been informed that several 
very valuable donations by individual citizens or groups of citizens, 
await favorable action upon an assurance of financial support for 
the Metropolitan Park project. 

Included in these are playgrounds and waterside parks and valuable 
connecting links that must be preserved to public use now or never. 
The whole district is in a stage of rapid transition and practically all 
such places are on the eve of their destruction, or removal from any 
future consideration as public assets. 



24 



REPORT OF METROPOLITAN PARK v w 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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Private generosity and forethought stands ready to co-operate 
with public appreciation and support, and merely for some assurance 
that they will be maintained and properly administered, the State 
may become possessed of treasures that possess great intrinsic value, 
to be devoted to the public welfare, and endure forever as monuments 
to their loyal contributors. Surely it is but reasonable that the 
greatest possible encouragement be offered to so patriotic an impulse. 



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